Will Smith close to making a political run

Will Smith is considering a career in politics as a way to honour his grandmother.

The Men in Black star is keen to follow in Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan's footsteps and turn his back on Hollywood to run for office - and he admits he has already started prepping for his new career.

"I'm working really hard and my storytelling is elevating, my ability to be eloquent with my body and with my voice and to deliver ideas as an actor is elevating," he tells The Hollywood Reporter. "As I look at the political landscape, I think that there might be a future out there for me.

"They might need me out there. This is the first year that I've been incensed to a level that I can't sleep, you know? So I'm feeling that at some point, in the near future, I will have to lend my voice to the conversation in a somewhat different way."

"I'm a climber, so if I see a mountain, I have to climb it. I'm not a camper; I don't like hanging in one place too long. So I think, at this point, I'm elevating my ability to be useful in the world."

And Smith admits his late grandmother would be so proud of him if he did follow his political dreams.

"I think that that's what my grandmother always hoped, that I would make myself useful to people in this lifetime."

If and when Smith runs for public office, he might have some Hollywood competition - both Alec Baldwin and Rob Lowe have made it clear they have politics on their minds.

"I love the process, I love the election cycle, but I don't know," Lowe recently said. It's so divisive, it doesn't seem like it was 20, even 30 years ago... And what's sad is I don't think the best and the brightest are called to do it (run for office), which is really the loss for all of us."